Charter for Scientific Collation and Source Verification of Articles in the Encyclopedia of the Muslim Woman

In the Name of God

Given that in scholarly articles no statement is cited without a source, and all content must be documented, scientific review and collation of articles is carried out to achieve this goal. According to the process chart of the Encyclopedia of the Muslim Woman, this stage takes place after ?????.

• The Scientific Collation Section

Scientific collation is carried out both before and after page layout, with the aim of ensuring precision, correction, and proper citation of the encyclopedia’s articles. The duties of this section are as follows:

1. Extracting the sources of Qur’anic verses; comparing the text and translation with the standard orthography and verifying the existing references for the verses.
2. Extracting the sources of narrations (hadiths), comparing their text with the source text, and verifying the existing references.
3. Endeavoring to cite narrations from the primary books.
4. Comparing quotations and verifying their references.
5. Documenting transmitted material in consultation with the author or the responsible person for the relevant article section.
6. Recording content-related, stylistic, editorial, and structural problems encountered in the course of the work.
7. Verifying the correspondence of titles with their contents.
8. Completing and correcting source references; narrational material from narrational compendia, jurisprudential material from jurisprudential works, and so on.
9. Standardizing references in accordance with the source guide.
10. Observing chronological order in the sources cited in footnotes.
11. Verifying the citation of narrations from both Shi’a and Sunni sources.
12. Verifying abbreviations or symbols, such as [illegible section], and implied expressions, as well as alterations and modifications in transmitted material.
13. Verifying translations and translation-like renderings.
14. Mentioning the root of words after the references of lexical sources.
15. Verifying the names of books and sources in accordance with the source guide.
16. Verifying the numbering of the text’s segments.
17. Verifying intra-article cross-references and references from other entries.
18. Verifying the aforementioned items after page layout.
19. Proposing corrective and supplementary comments on the article to the responsible person for the relevant section.
20. Completing the deficiencies of footnotes regarding volume, tome, and page.
21. Citing book, chapter, and verse in the books of the Old and New Testaments; for example: The Holy Bible, Exodus 20:2.
22. Citing book, volume (“vol.”) and part (“pt.”) in commentaries in which a part has been printed part-by-part or with a part within a single volume.
23. As far as possible, different editions of a source are collated with a single edition.

• Instructions for Scientific Collation

A) Scientific Collation and Comparing Article Content with Sources

1. The content of articles is compared with the sources cited in the footnotes; in the case of brevity, non-use of the material from the source, or an error in citation, the material or the cited source is corrected in consultation with the author or the group’s responsible person.
2. For material in the article for which no source is cited—unless it is an explicit inference from a verse, a report, or the author’s own statement or inference—the sources are completed in consultation with the author or the group’s responsible person.
3. Viewpoints and suggestions useful for completing or correcting the article are proposed to the author, the group’s responsible person, or the person responsible for compiling the articles, so that they may be applied at their discretion.
4. As far as possible, citations such as Bihar al-Anwar citing al-Kafi, or al-Burhan citing al-Qummi, should be avoided, and reference should be made to the primary source.

B) Reviewing and Comparing Footnotes

1. Reviewing articles for the completeness of their sources; thus, articles whose sources are not listed at the end are traced through files and authors.
2. Standardizing the names of sources in the footnotes.
3. Reviewing and comparing abbreviations with the sources; (vol. = volume), (pt. = part), (p. = page).
4. Completing the deficiencies of footnotes with respect to volume, tome, and page.
5. Different editions of sources are collated with a single edition.
6. In citing the Holy Bible or the Testaments, reference is made to book, chapter, and verse; for example: The Holy Bible, Exodus 30:10. Handwritten note above “chapter”: “book.”
7. The definite article “al-” is not removed from the beginning of sources in footnotes; for example: al-Kafi, al-Khisal.
8. Sources with long names are cited in abbreviated form in the article’s footnotes, while the full title of the book is written in the bibliography.
9. If the symbol “r.k.”—that is, “refer to”—appears in the footnote, the exact name of the source, along with the volume and page number, is cited in consultation with the author.
10. Sources with identical names are cited along with the author’s name as well as the book’s name; for example: al-Amali, Shaykh al-Tusi; al-Amali, Shaykh al-Mufid; and so on.
11. Observing the chronological order of sources in the footnotes.
12. For sources in which two or three parts have been printed in a single volume and the numbering follows the volumes—such as Jami’ al-Bayan and Ruh al-Ma’ani—first the volume number, then the part number, and then the page number are cited; for example: Jami’ al-Bayan, vol. 5, pt. 7, p. 200.

 

13. For commentaries in which the volume numbers correspond to their parts, the part number is cited in the footnote; such as Tafsir al-Qurtubi and Majma’ al-Bayan.

C) Sources and Bibliography

1. The list of sources should be arranged in accordance with the Shuyukh-nameh (guide to authorities) used in compiling the articles.
2. In the sources and bibliography, only the names of sources from which material has been cited in the compilation of the article are to be mentioned.
3. The order of the bibliography and the list of sources of the articles is alphabetical and based on the author’s name.
4. In the sources and bibliography, the titles of books and the names of Arab authors are written in their original Arabic form.
5. All sources are recorded on separate cards with full bibliographic details, so that they may be included in the encyclopedia’s bibliography: author’s name, book title, name of the researcher/editor, translator, collator, place of publication, name of the publisher, and date of publication.
6. Sources that lack a place of publication, publisher’s name, or date of publication are indicated concisely in the bibliography as [no place], [no publisher], and [no date].

D) Qur’anic Verses

1. The Qur’anic verses cited in the article are collated—with respect to the correctness of the words, their vocalization (diacritics) to a moderate degree, the name of the surah, the surah number, and the verse number—with the Uthman Taha orthography.
2. Qur’anic verses for which only the surah name and verse number are cited in the articles are reviewed and collated with respect to the accuracy of the reference and its relevance to the topic.
3. The vocalization (diacritics) of the verses, to a moderate degree.
4. The definite article “al-” is removed from the beginning of the surah name; al-Baqarah ← Baqarah.

E) Review of Articles

After the editing, correction, and completion of points that were ambiguous to the editor and regarding which the editor requested clarification.

F) Review and Collation of Reference Symbols

The reference symbols inserted into the articles by the entry-selection section are reviewed and collated.

Important Notes:

1. Sometimes discussions are presented and then refuted in jurisprudential, historical, and exegetical books, yet in the article only the first view is stated and a reference is given to that source, so that the reader forms the impression that this is the author’s own view; therefore, the material must be presented in such a way that such an impression does not arise.
2. Respected encyclopedia authors sometimes use sources in compiling articles that are not listed in the software; therefore, the list of those sources must be cited at the end of the article with full details, so that they may be consulted during scientific collation.
3. Sometimes, in compiling an article, sources are consulted that themselves mention other sources, yet some authors cite those secondary sources without referring to the mentioned sources themselves; therefore, the primary source must also be cited so that it may be consulted if necessary.
4. Given that the multiplicity of sources adds to the solidity and precision of an article, and that various and diverse sources have been recorded in the scholarly files, an effort should be made to reflect these sources in the articles.